Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community.

Currently reading: We didn’t make any progress on Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs during our trip this weekend. We had a few things on our minds and used the time to talk instead. There are worse things in this world!
Not much with The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler because I’ve been out-of-town so much but I’m still really enjoying the book and I hope to keep moving on it!
I started another comedian memoir because I needed something light to read over my vacation. I grabbed You’re Not Doing It Right by Michael Ian Black from my shelves. I enjoyed his commentary on the VH1 I Love The… series and I watched Wet Hot American Summer last summer and remembered how funny he was. The book is a great delivery of his dry humor and I’m really liking it.
I also just started The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson. I’m glad Bryson seems as fascinated by the English language as I am! Sometimes I find myself wondering how much money a linguist could make because it’s so fun!

Recentlyfinished: I finished Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them: The Original Screenplay by J.K. Rowling last Thursday. It was a super quick and fun read. I’m super excited for the movie to come out so I can watch it again from home this time! I’ll likely post a review tomorrow.
I also finished The First Phone Call from Heaven by Mitch Albom on Thursday, it was a big day for me! This was a good audiobook and I really liked that Albom narrated it himself. I posted my review on Monday so please go check it out and see why I gave it 4 out of 5 stars.

Reading Next: I know I’ve been saying it for weeks but I picked up Night Soldiers by Alan Furst from the library last night! I’m going to start in on this one as soon as I finish Black’s book, which I hope is really soon!

Leave a comment with your link and a comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

I love comedian memoirs. That might be kind of niche, but there are enough books in this genre that I feel it’s safe to make that blanket statement. I’ve read many I enjoyed and about the time I read Bossypants by Tina Fey, I was also binge-watching The Office on Netflix. Logically, enjoying both, I wanted to read Mindy’s book. I found it a few months later at a massive book sale and I’ve been waiting to read it for a while.

Mindy Kaling has lived many lives: the obedient child of immigrant professionals, a timid chubster afraid of her own bike, a Ben Affleck–impersonating Off-Broadway performer and playwright, and, finally, a comedy writer and actress prone to starting fights with her friends and coworkers with the sentence “Can I just say one last thing about this, and then I swear I’ll shut up about it?”

Perhaps you want to know what Mindy thinks makes a great best friend (someone who will fill your prescription in the middle of the night), or what makes a great guy (one who is aware of all elderly people in any room at any time and acts accordingly), or what is the perfect amount of fame (so famous you can never get convicted of murder in a court of law), or how to maintain a trim figure (you will not find that information in these pages). If so, you’ve come to the right book, mostly!

In Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, Mindy invites readers on a tour of her life and her unscientific observations on romance, friendship, and Hollywood, with several conveniently placed stopping points for you to run errands and make phone calls. Mindy Kaling really is just a Girl Next Door—not so much literally anywhere in the continental United States, but definitely if you live in India or Sri Lanka

Having read in this genre before, I knew this book could go one of two ways: 1) memoir of her life up until the point of writing or 2) sporadic, jumping around commentary on life. This book was oddly a mix of the two. Mindy followed her life pretty steadily until she broke into writing and then skipped around with parts that sounded like bits she had no show to write them into. I enjoyed the first part more than the second half. I would have liked to hear more about Mindy on The Office. She devoted one chapter to it and while it was the longest of her chapters, it was still short in comparison to the length of the book.

Mindy portrays herself in a very relatable light. She seems like your average everyday young woman and I think many people have a friend who is reminiscent of Mindy. It was refreshing to read that someone who is invited to awards shows also sits at home in her pajamas or cries over TV shows or calls their mom when something weird happens with her eye. She did seem to focus a lot on how she looked and fret about it, which was something I hadn’t read in a memoir before but I can most certainly understand.

There weren’t any major characters in Mindy’s story. Her parents showed up from time to time, as did her brother, and then a few roommates from college but no one who was a major part of Mindy’s story through the whole thing. I noticed this in a few other memoirs I read about celebrities and I wonder if there’s some celebrity editor who recommends this. How do I get that job?

Mindy KalingImage via Paste Magazine

Mindy made a few predictions in the book which have wound up being true. First was a female Ghostbusters and the second was an Oceans 5 but which will actually be Oceans 8 but close enough. There were some things that dated the book as well. Most notably the Blackberry references and talking about how Amy Poehler and Will Arnett are a great couple that all couples should strive to be like. While funny and grounding, these made the book feel ‘old’ six years after publication.

I think this book would have been better as an audiobook. I know Kaling’s style only as far as Kelly is a reflection of how she really talks. If Kelly is nothing like her, I have no idea how some of her jokes were supposed to come off. I might have missed a few that fell flat without her inflection. I couldn’t tell if she was actually at odds with Rainn Wilson or if they were the kind of super-close friends who rag on each other all the time. Audiobook could have helped there.

Mindy stresses her body image a lot. As a woman in Hollywood, she’s pressured to fit into a certain body style and she just doesn’t do that. She says she’s the average American woman and I would argue she’s probably a little smaller than average. Anyway, she’s constantly forced to dress in a way that stylists think is appropriate for her body type instead of what she wants. She talks about the pushback she’s gotten from this and I think it’s her main message. She’s trying her best to be comfortable in her own skin but she’s pushed back on a lot. I think Kaling is a good role model for girls. She’s a minority, a woman, and not a size 0 but she’s still funny. That’s a great combination.

Writer’s Takeaway: The second half of the book seemed thrown together to me. Her stories would bounce back to college or The Office and there wasn’t a strong sense of a timeline like there had been in the first half. I would have liked a little more structure to it.

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community.

Currently reading: My husband and I were finally able to listen to some of Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs. We had four hours in the car and got through some of it. This is a really long book so we might be at this one for a while. We have next weekend to get through a bit more.
I’ve been making steady progress on The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler during lunch and doctor’s appointments. I’ll keep it up at this pace as much as I can. Lunch has also transformed itself into a study time for me which might take over a bit.
I started reading Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them: The Original Screenplay by J.K. Rowling. It’s great reading this now because it’s moving super fast and I can pick it up and put it down easily as school makes other demands on my time. I should finish it soon.
I also started The First Phone Call from Heaven by Mitch Albom on audio. Albom narrates the story which is a fun twist. He loves basing his books here in Michigan (where he’s also from) which makes fun reading for me!

Recentlyfinished: I knocked out Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling really fast. Celebrity memoirs tend to be fast reads and I enjoyed getting through this one fast. My review will come up tomorrow so look out for that.
My review of Away by Amy Bloom posted yesterday. I liked the book but was disappointed by the ending. I thought it seemed like the main character gave up at the end and that disappointed me.

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community.

Currently reading: So this weekend and next weekend I hope to make progress on Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs. Hubby and I have a couple-hour drive both weekends and we usually listen to audiobooks to pass the time. Fingers crossed.
I got to read some of The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler during my lunches the past few days and I’ve really enjoyed it. I won’t finish this book anytime soon, but I’m going to enjoy the ride.
I finally started Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling and I’m already half way through! It’s so fun and light that it’s easy to sit down and read 30 pages before I realize my back is sore, haha. I think I’ll get through this one quickly.
I’m also half way through Away by Amy Bloom. A couple long runs and some business in the city has given me a lot of time to listen. It’s very dark but I’m enjoying the story a lot and loving the 1920s setting!

Recentlyfinished: I finished Misterio de la Guia de Ferrocarriles by Agatha Christie on Saturday. It was a really good read! I’m excited to have finished my Spanish read so quickly this year. My full review will be up tomorrow. Is there a movie or TV episode about this one (The A.B.C. Murders)? I’d love to see Piorot on screen! Is it normal in Christie novels not to have all the information ou would need to solve the murder yourself? I was a bit let down by that in the end.

Reading Next: I requested my next physical book through ILL so who knows when it will come in, haha. I’m hoping to read Night Soldiers by Alan Furst. This was a recommendation on the book themed daily calendar I had in 2013 and I’ve been waiting for it ever since. I’ll have to pick something random if it doesn’t get in soon.

Leave a comment with your link and a comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community.

Currently reading: I’m getting very close to the end of Misterio de la Guia de Ferrocarriles by Agatha Christie. It takes a lot of effort for me to read it, but I’m getting toward the end and can feel Poirot closing in on the murderer!
No move on Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs. It will likely be until my road trip later this month before we make any headway on this one.
I’m already on the third chapter of The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler. I was fortunate to have a few lunches to read last week and I got into it. I like it so far but I’m curious to see where Swyler goes with it and why she chose to have a male narrator.

Recentlyfinished: I finished World Without End by Ken Follett after my post went up last Wednesday. I loved it! My review went up Monday. A full 5 out of 5 stars.
I also finished Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf which was slightly less enjoyable. Many of you thought it might be because I listened to it and I think that’s probably right. Still, it wasn’t one I really enjoyed. 2 out of 5 stars. My review went up yesterday.

I also posted a review for The Birthday Boys by Beryl Bainbridge which went up last Thursday. Not my favorite of Bainbridge’s novels, but still enjoyable and very educational. 3 out of 5 stars.

Reading Next: I’m so close to starting Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling! I can almost feel it haha. I see it on my shelf almost every day and I can’t wait to pull it down and dig in.
I’ll be starting a new audiobook today, Away by Amy Bloom. I put this one on my list because it’s a 1920s era book. I own a copy which I found at a book warehouse but in order to get through my TBR faster, I’m going to listen to it.

Leave a comment with your link and a comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community.

Currently reading: I’m on the last disk for World Without End by Ken Follett and I hope to wrap it up today or tomorrow. I’ll be sad when this one ends but it was a great ride and if there’s a third in this series, I’ll read it in a heartbeat.
I’m making steady progress with Misterio de la Guia de Ferrocarriles by Agatha Christie. Reading in another language puts me to bed really fast so I don’t get a ton of this read each night, but some. I’ll keep chipping away at it.
Again, nothing with Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs. I’ll have to wait until February when we have a few road trips planned. Sigh.
I started a new audiobook on my phone, Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. Maybe this is one not to listen to but I’m not enjoying it very much. It’s turned very inward and jumps around between the characters a lot which I wasn’t ready for and I’m having trouble following it.
I need a new ebook and decided to turn to The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler. I have a lot of time to read at lunch this week so it will be nice to escape for a while. This book was really hot for a while but seems to have faded out a bit since then. I’m excited to pick it up and see what it’s all about!

Recentlyfinished: I decided not to get out of bed on Saturday until I finished The Birthday Boys by Beryl Bainbridge. It didn’t take too long as most of the last 10% of the book was a biography of Bainbridge full of pictures. My review will be up tomorrow. As always, I enjoyed Bainbridge’s style but this time I had a slightly harder time following the characters than I have before.
I finished South of Broad by Pat Conroy on Thursday and absolutely loved it. My review went up on Monday so please check that out if you have the time. It was a great book. I gave it a full Five out of Five stars and I now want to go to Charleston.

Reading Next: I keep having to stop myself from grabbing Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling off my shelf. I will as soon as I finish Christie but not before then.

Shameless Plug: If you’re still looking for reading challenges in 2017, take a look at my historical fiction reading challenge, When Are You Reading? Let me know you’re interested and I’ll add you to the participant list. I had 13 people participate last year and I’d love to have a bigger group this year!

Leave a comment with your link and a comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community.

Currently reading: I only have three disks left in World Without End by Ken Follett. The audiobook is so big it will be nice to have it out of my car soon, haha. Yay for progress!
Not too much with The Birthday Boys by Beryl Bainbridge this week. I had some irregular lunches and not a lot of time waiting at the doctor this week. It’s going pretty fast, though, and I think I’ll wrap it up in the next month or two.
I didn’t listen to South of Broad by Pat Conroy during my long run this weekend. I needed to concentrate on my breathing in the cold weather so I missed out on about an hour of that. Ah well. I need to finish it up in the next couple weeks for my book club meeting but that should be no problem.
I’m back into Misterio de la Guia de Ferrocarriles by Agatha Christie though it’s slow going. I usually take longer to get through my Spanish books so it’s expected. I hope to wrap up soon-ish.
Again, nothing with Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs. We’re going on a road trip next month and to be honest, that might be the next time I listen to it at all.

Recentlyfinished: I finished up States of Confusion by Paul Jury pretty quickly. It was a fun memoir, but not my favorite. My review for it went up on Monday if you want to check that out. I gave it Three out of Five Stars.

I also finished my review for Trap by Robert K. Tanenbaum. It was not a genre I enjoyed, but it was still a fast read. I gave it Three out of Five Stars as well.

Reading Next: The plan is still to read Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling. It’s tempting to put Christie aside and start this, but I’m going to wait it out and try to shrink my Currently Reading list just a bit.

Shameless Plug: If you’re still looking for reading challenges in 2017, take a look at my historical fiction reading challenge, When Are You Reading? Let me know you’re interested and I’ll add you to the participant list. I had 13 people participate last year and I’d love to have a bigger group this year!

Leave a comment with your link and a comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community.

Currently reading: I’ve made a bit of progress with World Without End by Ken Follett this week. I try to turn it on whenever possible in my car so I can keep listening to it. I’m loving it and I’ll be sad and happy when it ends.
I got to read The Birthday Boys by Beryl Bainbridge during lunch twice since last week. I’m at about 60% of this book and I hope to push through and finish it soon.
My friends and I are competing in a year-long running challenge and I’ve been very motivated to listen to South of Broad by Pat Conroy during my runs. I’m finally over half way and I think I’ll just finish before my book club at the end of the month.
I made decent progress with Misterio de la Guia de Ferrocarriles by Agatha Christie but set it aside because I have a new book! (see below)
No progress with Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs this week. My husband and I are very busy now in the beginning of the year. I’m not sure when we’ll get back to this one so it might be on here a while.
My Interlibrary Loan came in! I was able to get through a lot of States of Confusion by Paul Jury over the weekend and I read a bit more since the week started up. It’s a quick read so I’m hoping to finish this one soon.

Recentlyfinished: With that huge list of current reads, it shouldn’t be a huge surprise I didn’t finish a single book! I keep picking up and putting down titles and starting on super long ones, it’s no wonder. I hope to add a few here soon!

I’ve gotten two reviews up since last week! The first is Once Upon a River by Bonnie Jo Campbell. I really enjoyed this book and will have a report up about my book club’s discussion of it soon. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars.
The second review is for The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt by Caroline Preston which I put up yesterday. This book was a fun adventure through the 1920s, my favorite era. I gave it a full 5 out of 5 stars.

Reading Next: My class this semester will conflict with my book club meetings so, until May, I’m reading my own book list! I’ve been meaning to get to Mindy Kaling’s book Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? I know it’s been on this list a few times but I really REALLY mean to read it soon.

Shameless Plug: If you’re still looking for reading challenges in 2017, take a look at my historical fiction reading challenge, When Are You Reading? Let me know you’re interested and I’ll add you to the participant list. I had 13 people participate last year and I’d love to have a bigger group this year!

Leave a comment with your link and a comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community.

Currently reading: It’s going slower but I’m making my way through World Without End by Ken Follett. The case holding the audiobook is huge! I feel bad for anyone who tries to sit in my passenger seat for the next month or so. I’m really glad to be finishing this one.
Two days of lunch-reading The Birthday Boys by Beryl Bainbridge as given me moderate progress. I wasn’t expecting the narration to change between shipmates and I can’t decide if I like it yet.
I’m enjoying South of Broad by Pat Conroy a lot. It’s making me look forward to my runs, actually. The narrator is excellent which really helps.
While I waited for my ILL to come in, I picked up another ‘available at the library’ book off my list, which is The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt by Caroline Preston. I’ve been looking forward to this one for a long time because of the images of the 1920s and its unusual format.

Recentlyfinished: I finished Once Upon a River by Bonnie Jo Campbell on Friday. The ending was a bit of a let down after the amazing book but it was still enjoyable. I’m thinking of reading more by this author because I enjoyed the main character, Margo, so much.

Only one book review since last week which is Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass. I really enjoyed Maass’s book and I thought his suggestions were great because they can apply to so many different genres. I’m still planning on going through the workbook one of these days. I gave the book 4 out of 5 stars.

Reading Next: I have a loan request out for States of Confusion by Paul Jury but I’m not sure how long that will take to come in. If I finish Frankie Pratt before the end of the year, I’ll pick up Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling from my shelf. If I finish after the new year, I’ll start my customary ‘book in Spanish’ for the year which will be Misterio de la Guia de Ferrocarriles by Agatha Christie, a Poirot mystery. It would be my first Christie book.

Leave a comment with your link and a comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at Should be Reading and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community.

Currently reading: I’ve made good progress with Harry Potter y el misterio del príncipe (Half-Blood Prince) by J.K. Rowling. Having him finally show up at school is making me read as fast as I can because I love that setting. I’m still a long way out but I know I’ll enjoy the ride.
Not much with Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut this week. I tend to read my ebook while I’m eating lunch at work but last week was a lot of working lunches for me, just trying to get a few more minutes of work done each day!
The audio of A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin is still awesome. I’m doing slow but steady progress with the disks until the eaudio comes back. It makes me want to drive more!
I couldn’t stand waiting around with no audiobook on my phone so I grabbed Black Duck by Janet Taylor Lisle. My husband brought this book to my attention and thought I might like it a few months ago. It’s short, only about five hours on audio, so should make for some fun listening while I’m doing things around the house.

Recentlyfinished: Nothing finished this week. Sad day.

However! I did post a review of Shanghai Girls by Lisa See on Monday. Go check that one out, I gave it 4 out of 5 stars.